Eidolon was staying behind, raising his hands, and green sparks began rising from the ground, clustering around Eidolon and the fallen, obscuring them.

Hm, now what kind of power is this? Some sort of mass teleport?

A second later, he and half of the bodies that had been scattered around the battlefield disappeared, the sparks blooming outward in twenty small firework explosions.

A showy one. It’s certainly not something you do unnoticed under calmer conditions.

I took that as my cue to join everyone else in the pursuit.  Eidolon could help the wounded.  I couldn’t, really.

Should’ve brought that first aid equipment.

I ran after the others, nearly tripping into a pothole in my hurry.  My armband showed a green icon for Leviathan, and I followed it.

Rounding a corner, I came up at the rear of a small crowd, perilously close to the Endbringer.

Woah, watch out!

Fog was blocking one route, while Sundancer stood at another, her superheated orb between her and Leviathan.

Oooh, I’m sure he wouldn’t like to touch that. Besides, the scorching heat could help get rid of some of the water, especially if Myrddin is involved.

The remaining capes were divided between the other two possible alleys Leviathan might have moved through and the air above him.  Legend was hammering Leviathan down to the pavement with a series of laser blasts.

They’ve got him surrounded, it sounds like. Niiice.

Leviathan turned around, lashing his tail behind him to cast three lashes of water our way, then crouched.

Uh oh. Last time that I can recall he crouched, he was getting ready for a leap that caused the first deaths.

“He’s running!” someone called out.

Leviathan dashed away from us, fast, only to skid to a stop and turn a corner for cover as Legend, Lady Photon, Laserdream and a half dozen other heroes opened fire from the skies above.

On the face of it, Leviathan withdrawing seems like a good thing, but it doesn’t actually do any good unless they can get him to withdraw completely, going far enough away that he can’t continue attacking the city with waves or trying to create the sinkhole under the city.

Others had picked themselves up, were moving into the side streets and alleys to follow, intent on cutting him off.  I looked around, glancing over at the injured and wounded, knowing Tattletale was among them.

Y’know, I do think Taylor’s reaction to hearing Tattle’s name has been a bit less intense than expected (though admittedly, she’s not exactly a dramatic person). That’s probably because she’s holding on to the doubt in the armband’s definition of “losses”… which means she might actually be about to find Tattletale. It might take actually seeing the body to get the real reaction out of her.

The recitation continued, but I was numb to them.  Tattletale?  I started, looked around, as if I could find her.  Where had she been?

No, what I suddenly really wanted to know was what the armband meant by losses.  Were all those people dead?  Was Tattletale dead?

Confusion. Denial.

Why wasn’t the armband directing me to help someone?  Was there no point, or were our numbers so reduced we couldn’t afford to?

I think Taylor just kinda wants something to focus on other than the fact that her armband just told her her best friend was dead.

I could hope it was the latter, but having seen some of the injuries I had, it didn’t make me feel better.  It was almost worse, thinking that Tattletale might by (sic) lying somewhere, bleeding out or unable to breathe, not getting help.

I guess so.

Bastion bellowed, “Do it!”

Leviathan lunged, crashed through one barrier, making it shatter like glass, only for another to appear immediately after.  He turned to head our way, was stopped by another.

Nice.

“Fucking do it!” Bastion called out, barely audible.

Oh, that’s not what you wanted them to do.

What was it, then?

The building above him bent and the midsection, unable to support the upper floors, crumbled.  The upper half of the building crashed down atop Leviathan and Bastion.

Oof.

Vista turned, wrapping her arms around the Ward next to her, burying her face in his shoulder.

This girl is twelve. And she’s fighting an Endbringer.

I hope the PRT has some good therapists on hand.

Depart from the rooftops, buildings may come down imminently, my armband announced.

I feel like Tattle would definitely take note of this if she heard it while on the rooftop.

Flying capes left the roof of the building, each carrying someone.  They were still leaving as Leviathan lunged through the side of the building and the forcefields that had been reinforcing the walls.  He tried to retreat, was stalled by more forcefields.  I saw a figure on the far side.  Bastion.  The hero who had been in the news over his racist tirade.

I don’t remember, were we given an idea of Bastion’s power back in 8.1?

*looks back* No, we didn’t. Maybe we’re about to?

I’d like to note that I don’t recall Tattle’s armband saying anything at all in the Interlude. Maybe she forgot to turn it on? Or turned down the volume? Or maybe my memory is just shit.